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No Holds Barred
No Holds Barred is a 1989 film produced by Michael Rachmil, directed by Thomas J. Wright, written by Dennis Hackin and starring professional wrestler Hulk Hogan (who is billed as executive producer alongside Vince McMahon). The film is produced by World Wrestling Federation (now WWE for Extreme) (under a "Shane Distribution Company" copyright) and was released by New Line Cinema on June 2, 1989. It was launched as an attempt to boost Hulk Hogan's acting career several years after his appearance in Rocky III. Plot Hulk Hogan plays Rip, a very popular professional wrestler. Although Rip looks and acts like a brute, he is actually a golden-hearted guy. He has a younger brother, Randy (Mark Pellegrino), whose presence in the audience motivates him enough to win his matches. Rip appears on a television channel which screens all his matches. Thanks to Rip, the channel is highly popular. However, the evil, money-hungry chairman of a rival channel, Brell (Kurt Fuller), wants to convince Rip to join their network. Rip respectfully declines, though Brell has his gang of thugs attempt to beat Rip into submission during the limo ride home from the meeting. After visiting the No Count Bar, a rowdy establishment featuring a wrestling ring in the center and patronized by drunken, vicious fighters, Brell is inspired to create a new kind of wrestling program, focusing more on violence and sensationalism than Rip's more moralistic version of the sport. Brell's new program, Battle of the Tough Guys, is successful after the introduction of Zeus (Tom Lister, Jr.), a violent, seemingly unfazable ex-con who sports a "Z"-shaped patch of hair on his skull. Zeus killed an opponent in the ring after the fight was over, and has been in prison until recently. Samantha, a beautiful corporate spy (Joan Severance), is sent by Brell to seduce Rip. However, Rip's good nature and dedication to charity wins her over, and she confesses the truth to the wrestler and turns to his side. After this fails, Brell attempts to have Samantha raped; as usual, Rip foils the plot and dispatches the would-be rapist into a tree trunk. Meanwhile, Brell and Zeus crash an outdoor charity event Rip is appearing at, demanding that Rip prove his honor by fighting Zeus live on Brell's new show. Once again, Rip avoids violent conflict and attempts to reason with Brell, who leaves in anger. Randy and a friend decide to check out Zeus for themselves, attending an illegal fight being held in a warehouse. After watching Zeus defeat the monstrous Lugwrench Perkins (Jeep Swenson), Randy foolishly identifies himself as Rip's brother to Brell and his associates. Randy attempts to defend himself, but Zeus brutally beats him, sending him to the hospital. Finally, after this ultimate insult, a tearful Rip decides to accept Zeus' challenge. Before the match, Brell abducts Rip's friends and threatens to kill them if Rip doesn't lose deliberately. With the odds against him, Rip wins the match after Zeus falls from a perch into the wrestling ring, collapsing it. Rip turns his attentions to Brell, who accidentally falls into an electrical panel to his demise. With his friends rescued and his brother recovering in the hospital, Rip celebrates his victory. The match No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie, which is how the event was billed, was shown on pay-per-view, on December 27, 1989. The program consisted of the film in its entirety, followed by a match pre-recorded at a Wrestling Challenge taping on December 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. The main event pitted Hogan and Lister — appearing in character as "Zeus" — on opposing tag teams. Hogan teamed with longtime friend Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, while the heel Zeus teamed with Randy "Macho Man" Savage. The four had been involved in an intertwined feud since the summer. Zeus had made several appearances at WWF events and cut promos stating that he, and not Hogan, should have received top billing in No Holds Barred. Meanwhile, as Hogan and Savage were feuding over the WWF World Championship, Beefcake began feuding with Savage after Beefcake insulted Sherri during a TV taping. At the 1989 SummerSlam, Hogan and Beefcake teamed to defeat Savage and Zeus, after which the tag team feud simmered for several months as Zeus began appearing with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase in the lead-up to the 1989 Survivor Series. The Hogan-Beefcake vs. Savage-Zeus tag team rivalry resumed after the Survivor Series, in the lead-up to "No Holds Barred: The Movie-The Match." Match result The Hogan-Beefcake vs. Savage-Zeus steel cage was part of a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping. In addition to matches pitting mid- and lower-card wrestlers against jobbers, other contests (which were not televised) saw "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes defeat The Big Boss Man, WWF Intercontinetal Champion The Ultimate Warrior defeat Dino Bravo, The Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku) defeat WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition by countout, and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig defeat Ron Garvin. Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake needed 9:32 to defeat Randy Savage and Zeus in a Steel cage match. Unlike traditional tag-team steel cage match rules the WWF had in place at the time, wherein both members of one team had to exit the cage to win, the match could end with a pinfall. After a back and forth match early on, all four competitors were knocked out after Hogan hit a suplex on Zeus, and Beefcake and Savage hit each other's heads into the cage structure. Sensational Sherri (the manager of the Savage-Zeus team) handed a chain to Savage, who attempted to strike Beefcake with a fist drop off the top of the cage, but Beefcake recovered and caught Savage coming off. Eventually, Beefcake knocked Savage to the mat and escaped the cage; Savage -- with some eventual help from Beefcake -- crawled outside, tying the match at 1-apiece. Meanwhile, Hogan rallied against Zeus, battering him before dropping three leg drops to score the pin and the win for the Hogan-Beefcake team. Box office gross The movie debuted at #2, behind Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with $4,957,052 in ticket sales. Hogan writes in his autobiography the budget was about eight million dollars. Vince McMahon, who financed the movie, more or less broke even because of distribution fees. The final tally was $16,093,651 in ticket sales. During the October 13, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon joked, "Hogan promised me that if the movie lost money he was gonna return his salary. I guess the check is still in the mail." This was during the Monday Night Wars and was part of a number of digs at Hogan's then-new movie project Assault on Devil's Island. RAW commentator Jim Ross also joked during the late 90s; "No Holds Barred? More like No Profit Allowed." Category:Professional wrestling films Category:WWE for Extreme